Angela Bassett And Regina King Honored At Black Girls Rock!

Tarin Donatien

PRPhotos.com

Black Hollywood royalty Angela Bassett and Regina King were honored last night (September 8th) at the 2019 BET's Black Girls Rock!, which was hosted by Neicy Nash. In addition to Bassett and King, other honorees included Ciara, H.E.R,Mothers of The Movement, Debra Martin Chase and more.

The show opened with a performance medley from Robin S., Crystal Waters and CeCe Peniston with CoCoa Chanelle on the 1s and 2s. Other performers included Ari Lennox, India Arie, Kiana Lede, Monica, Elle Varner, Maimouna Yusef and Common closed the show with a performance with William Murphy and then brought the house down with Erykah Badu closed out the show with a performance of "The Light," "Love of My Life" and a special freestyle for Black Girls Rock!.

Angela Bassett bought the audience to their feet when she accepted her award, saying, “There might be times when you face obstacles, but that’s when you dig deep for courage and fortitude, and to never forget that despite life’s obstacles that you are destined for greatness.” She ended her speech saying, Not only are you good enough, you are more than enough."

["So, when you're told you're not good enough, you tell them, not only am I good enough, I'm more than enough. When they say, send her back home, you tell them, I am home. I am the foundation of what we call home. When they tell you that you're angry or nasty... You tell them that they're mistaken.This is me. This is me being resolute and standing firmly in my truth. And when they say you're not beautiful, you tell them that you are the descendent of royalty... And you... are... a queen."] SOUNDCUE (1:15 OC: . . .you... are... a queen.)

["So if I could write a letter to my younger self, here are some of the words of wisdom I would tell her. Little Ciara from Decatur, Georgia, be patient. Everything in life will go exactly how it was supposed to go. At times, you will feel like an outcast, that you don't fit in, but you will discover that being your own clique will be your strongest attribute. In life, you're gonna face many challenges, many moments of adversity. There are gonna be a lot of successes and some failures too. Those moments are gonna create your character, build your integrity, and they will become your beauty marks. On your journey in life, you may hear a lot more no's than yeses, but you'll let those moments motivate you, and those that said no will eventually wish they would have said yes. And you will know that all is possible because of God's grace."] SOUNDCUE (:55 OC: . . .because of God's grace.)

In clip four, Debra Martin Chase accepts the Shot Caller Award.

["Among the many gifts that my father gave me, my father shared with me his love of film and television and impressed upon me the importance of the images that we saw on screen, but it just bothered me so much that I never saw me. And so I moved to Hollywood and decided to pursue my dream of making content that represented me and us. Again, what I had been taught... Well, if someone else is doing it, you can do it. Well, I got to Hollywood, and they didn't have that assumption. There was no path for a woman of color to produce movies and television, and so I quickly realized that part of my purpose in Hollywood was to firmly put my foot in that door of opportunity and to hold it there and bring other talented women of color with me... So that we could knock the door down, right? But I have also come to understand that as black women, we are so powerful when we stick together, when we support each other, when we lift each other up, we are unstoppable."] SOUNDCUE (1:21 OC: . . .we are unstoppable.)

In clip five, HER accepts the Young Gifted and Black Award.

["Ladies, we cannot be stopped. We are limitless, we are inevitable, and we refuse to be put in any kind of box or limitation as black women, and we can be whoever we wanna be... Because we, we have the power to control our own narratives, to write our own stories, and we have our next young black storytellers and creators all over the world ready to begin their journey to greatness, and they only need access to opportunities to begin. You know, we have our future Quincys and Arethas and Stevies and Prince and Alicia Keyses and Patrice Rushens, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Lauryn Hill, Sheila E, Meshell Ndegeocello. We are limitless, we cannot be stopped, and we are both dreamers and we're doers. And I believe in this quote. True power resides in whomever we believe has the power, and I believe it resides in us. Thank you so, so, so, so much. Thank you."] SOUNDCUE (1:13 OC: . . .so much. Thank you.)

In clip six, Mothers of the Movement accept the Community Change Agent Award.

["We are deeply humbled and grateful for this award. And while we have built a sisterhood, this is not a club that any of us wanted to join. This award... Is for all the Mothers of the Movement and women whose name we'll never know, all who have lost a child to gun violence or confrontations with the police. We know too well that all lives have not mattered. This tells us very powerfully that we must change. We can't ignore this. We can't wish it away. Each of us has a responsibility to stand up and fight for racial equality in America."] SOUNDCUE (:58 OC: . . .racial equality in America.)

["Talk about leveling up. Here's the thing, dear... After you get up here and thank God and your mama, we gon' need that prayer you prayed to get that man. We gon' need that, CiCi. Don't do us like that now."] SOUNDCUE (:14 OC: . . .do us like that now.)

In clip eight, Regina King accepts the Star Power Award.

["I mean... �It is my season. For grace... For favor. I appreciate every single one of you, but because this is my season, I know that this is an opportunity for me to shine light on all of those black women that are the reason why I'm here. I'm here not just because of a lot of black women, but this is our night to shine a light on us, 'cause we need to have that, and that's what I want to take this moment to do. So it's a long list. It's gonna be like a college graduation. But... We're about to do this. Oh... My grandma, my mother... Of course, you guys know how I feel about my grandmother and my mother, my sister, Reina King... My other sister, you guys don't know, you've heard me talk about Reina a lot, but my big sister, Patricia Wright, my aunt Juanita, Kamaya Jackson, Brandy Hempstead, all the women in the King, Cain, and Hooks family that I actually know, 'cause y'all know how cousins be coming out the woodwork."] SOUNDCUE (1:16 OC: . . .coming out the woodwork.)